Rune Waker

by Jamie Hawke

  Varena considered me, then stepped into the water as well, her armor vanishing slowly with each step. By the time she reached me, it was gone, leaving her completely naked.

  “What…?” I started, but she put a finger to my lips, then traced it down along my jaw, down my neck, and stopped at the amulet.

  “You hold the key to my soul.”

  “I’m not sure… what to do with that.”

  She grinned, her hand going further south… moving down past my abs, tracing my hip bone, but her eyes stayed on mine. “I was defeated, trapped. Maybe I should have told you more of this up front, but… Now seems like a better moment.”

  “That you’re trapped here? Or, how does this work? If you’re my slave or something, well, I don’t want a slave.”

  She moved her hand around to my side, her touch warm, pulsating through me. Her other hand went to my chest. “That’s good to hear. You didn’t strike me as the type, anyway.”

  I cleared my throat, glancing down at her hands.

  “Don’t push me away,” she said, and it was clear by her voice that she needed this moment. Maybe it wasn’t anything other than being able to feel me, to know I was real.

  “Go on,” I said, offering a comforting nod.

  “That bastard back there tried to bind me using my own runes,” she explained. “When I was too strong for him, he found another way, locking me in the amulet and forcing my remaining soul bindings to interlock with it. I’m unable to leave the amulet until I find a way to break the spell. The only reason I’m here, now… is because of you. Because you’ve given me strength, allowed me to pull on you.”

  My mind went there, especially as her hand went lower—I imagined her pulling on me, tugging and stroking. There wasn’t much doubt she’d chosen her words with purpose.

  “But… there might be another way. I could bind myself to something else, something…” She let her fingers move even more south, until they gently brushed across the base of my shaft. “Something, or someone… like you.”

  “I…” I took her hand, pulling it away even as my cock reacted, standing fully erect so that the engorged head stuck out of the water. “You know I can’t.”

  She cocked her head, frowning. “I don’t understand.”

  “Katie. How could I live with myself if I betrayed her trust? How could… I mean, how could you respect me then?”

  She laughed. “First, might I remind you that I’m a demon?”

  “I thought you said you weren’t a demon, though. Or even a genie. Your words were… what? A spirit? A lost soul?”

  “Semantics, whatever.” With that she turned and walked out of the water, her ass glistening as droplets traced her contours, making me very much regret my stupid faithfulness. “Anyhow, it’s all changed, since the opening of the Rift.”

  “Trouble in hoo-ha land?” Teln asked, floating back my way.

  “Hoo-ha land?” As soon as I said it, I shook my head, realizing I didn’t need her to explain. “We’re good, I just…”

  “Oh, you have a thing sticking up.” She stood, short enough that her chest was in the water now, and pointed. “Just there.”

  She was pointing at my boner, still on display. I lowered myself into the water, dunking my head in, and came up with my shoulders under.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “For the peep show?” She laughed. “I should be paying you, no? It was a nice show, although I feel I missed the most important part.”

  Frowning, I rubbed the water across my face, cleaning it. “Is everyone like you two? Horny little demons.”

  “Not a demon,” she countered with a glare. “I’m a fairy. And… who said I’m horny? A lady can’t enjoy a nice cock?”

  “I…” With a sigh, I started for the shore. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Ooh, and what an ass,” she added, making me feel like a piece of meat and not helping her case.

  Varena stood with her small bits of armor back in place, the sun glistening across her marbled skin like a statue of obsidian.

  “We’re done here,” she said, and made for the portal. “Hurry, dress. Let’s find your fiancée so we can move on.”

  The words felt foreign, but I nodded. We’d come here with a purpose, and I meant to see it through. Stepping up to the portal as Teln joined us with Bunny, we took a moment as Varena sighed, facing me.

  “You… might be forgetting stuff,” she admitted.

  “It happens,” Teln added.

  “And if I don’t want to forget anything?”

  “There are certain magics you can link to—purple, for example, relates to the psyche.” Varena put her hand on my heart. “But really it’s what’s here that holds the memories, in a sense.” At my frown, she added, “I know your brain actually holds them, but what I’m saying is, if something is truly important to you, emotionally, there’s no way you can lose it.”

  “I don’t look like me, I don’t think like me,” I countered. “All that being the case, what’s left of me?”

  “Your soul,” she replied, and then motioned to the portal. “We’ll unite you with this Katie of yours, but after that… then the time will come to see how strong that soul really is.”

  She took a step toward the portal, but I took her arm. “And after we have Katie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, the two of you. What then?”

  “Let’s cross that river when we come to it.” Varena smiled, glanced over at Teln, who shrugged.

  And then they stepped through, vanishing. One minute they were there, in front of me, the next it was empty air. I took a deep breath and followed.

  22

  The air went cold around me, then warm. Pink light exploded to yellow, then faded to a pleasant orange like sunset. I stood on grass overlooking rolling hills, trees, and rivers. There was no doubt this would be the sort of place that Katie would feel at home in. It actually reminded me of the field we’d first met in as avatars after her death.

  Odd how seeing this place brought her so strongly back into my memory, while mere seconds before I’d had a hard time remembering what she looked like. Her beautiful smile, the cute little freckle under her left eye, the curls of her hair—it all came back.

  For a moment. As soon as I stepped away from that portal, I was left wondering what the urgency was. Varena and Teln were there, waiting, and the only sensation I remembered was a craving, lust… blood flowing south.

  Varena glanced down, noticing the shift in my robes, and quickly looked away.

  “Hey,” I said, taking her by the chin and turning her to look into my eyes. “What is this place? It’s so… beautiful.”

  Her eyes never left mine. “Some worlds are filled with true beauty. Some only on the surface.”

  I considered her statement, but shook my head. “When you really look, you see whether it’s real, or only on the surface.”

  “What do you see right now?”

  “My lady,” Teln said, moving around to our side, waving. “Should we be—”

  One of Varena’s fingers went to Teln’s lips, quieting her. The moment felt odd to me, but I was with these two women, my passion taking over. The runes on my side tingled, a chill going up my spine and through my wings.

  Then I was being pulled in by Varena, her lips on mine as had happened before, her tongue tasting me and mine her, and our clothes were gone—as simple as that, vanished—our bodies pressed against each other.

  “My lady,” Teln repeated, this time in frustration.

  Varena turned to her, glared, and then arched an eyebrow. She moved in, kissing the fairy who stood a good foot and a half shorter than her, and began to undress Teln, too. Whatever protestation had existed in Teln a moment ago was gone now, the rabbit dropped to the grass, grazing, while the two women kissed. Blue hands caressed swirled purple and black breasts, then Teln’s mouth was moving down the other lady, taking her nipple in her mouth as I watched. Her eyes moved over to me, first my eye
s, then down along my body, loving it.

  “Fuck me,” Teln said.

  “Fuck him,” Varena corrected, and she pulled the fairy up and over, so that both were on me now. They kissed my neck, my chest, hands moving along my ass. Then one of their hands was moving south—but I pulled away.

  “He’s not ready,” Varena said, pouting. “I thought that maybe… perhaps… but no.”

  Teln turned to her, sharing a moment. It almost seemed there was hostility between them.

  “We’re close, you know,” Teln said, turning back to me with her wide, blue eyes.

  “Close?” I smiled wistfully. “I simply cannot.”

  “Not what I meant.” She returned the smile, hand moving up to my cheek, her caress like a smooth leave blown by the wind. Her other hand moved to mine, gripping it. “You… misunderstand. Close to her.”

  Varena looked over with a sharp turn of her head, and that was enough to make me understand. Close to… her. The woman… the woman who was causing me not to go all the way with these two, the one I’d set out to find. Only, I’d been here so long, my mind was confused. Who had I set out to find?

  “Katie,” Varena said, clearly understanding.

  “Katie,” I repeated, feeling the sound of it on my tongue. It had a distant feel, but familiar. A woman’s laughter echoed in my head, a vision of her in front of me at the beach, but all I saw was her curly hair swaying behind her as she walked, the sun glinting on the water beyond her. “She was… my lover.”

  “And she’s not far off.” Teln lifted my hand to her mouth, kissing each finger in turn as she spoke. “What we’ve been through, the journey and soul-binding, it… changed you. When you meet her, you might not feel as you once did.”

  “Or he’ll want to throw all of this away,” Varena countered. “Hate himself for the confusion, the lapses… resent us for going along with it.”

  “Either way, it’s time.”

  Varena took a deep breath. Nodded. I wasn’t sure what to think here, so simply stood, folding my robe around me—what had once been my clothes, now morphed—and considered the two of them. Teln pointed the way for me.

  “We’re connected,” I said. “Not just physically, but our souls. I will never resent you or throw any of this away. But what about her?” I looked down at myself. My skin had a tone of blue and purple, somewhere between Teln and Varena. On my side, the orange runes that bound me to Varena shone, stinging slightly as I looked at them. My wings spread out behind me, the fire on my head hot. “Will she know me… like this?”

  They shared a look of uncertainty, and I had my answer.

  “Let’s find out what all the fuss was about.”

  Without waiting to see their response, I went in the direction indicated by the pink light that had now reappeared, guiding me. Whatever awaited me, whatever route we chose from there, I couldn’t leave it unexplored. I at least had to know.

  23

  At the base of a nearby hill I could see a glowing white form that stood out among the greenery and pink flowers. With a heavy breath and pulling my robe about me, I made my way over. She seemed to be confused, lost. Her eyes moved from one flower to the next, as if unable to understand why they were there, why she was among them.

  I approached the woman, with each step wondering what I was doing here. The women behind me held a special place now. This woman… what had she been?

  As I drew close, she turned to face me and the glow faded. What remained was a pale, nude woman with an unspeakable beauty. Her skin was like milk, and completely exposed but for a slight glow that remained, covering her in key points. On her back were small wings, on her forehead little horns. She wasn’t quite demon, wasn’t quite angel, but seemingly a mixture of the two. The only form of clothing she wore was the gold around her wrists and neck, and adorning her curly, auburn hair. Odd, as in life her hair had been black, but there was no doubt this was her. She’d changed, as I had.

  Her eyes stared up at me with confusion, then fright. She scooted away, moving up along the green slope, and I continued my approach, staring, trying to see in her the woman I had once known. Everything about her felt so foreign, so distant.

  “You…” she said, showing a slight recognition. “But you’re… changed.”

  “I am,” I admitted, very much aware of the new me, both inside and out.

  She leaned forward, light-brown eyes staring into mine, and for a moment I saw us in those eyes, but a different version of us. Human, normal… kind of boring. The situation shouldn’t have been, as we were on a small raft in a West Virginia river, laughing as she nearly fell. A camping trip with friends, the first time we’d touched.

  Another memory hit, this time of us making awkward love in my tent, my buddy sleeping on the opposite side. Or pretending to, anyway. Katie had cum easily enough, then reached down to finish me off, leaving a bit of a mess in the sleeping bag that she left me to deal with.

  I chuckled at the thought, quickly recalling other times, but able to see them objectively, as if it hadn’t been us living through those moments, but two strangers.

  Had we rushed into things? Thrown aside any hesitation to ‘fall’ for each other, in the name of passion and the idea of love?

  Seeing her in the memory, and that form fading to the nude angel before me at that moment, I had no doubt the passion was there. Remembering the way we had laughed and talked, maybe the love had been too. But now… now we were, as she said, ‘changed.’

  In spite of all that, I told myself, I’d come all this way. Keeping eye contact, I began to lower my robes—more like manifestations of my new powers, anyway. A blink of an eye could’ve simply left me nude, but this way was more sensual.

  Her eyes lowered from mine, moving along my body, hungrily watching as the robes fell to the ground. That left us both nude, the hunger in her eyes at the sight of my rising.

  “We aren’t who we were,” she said, but even as she seemed to be saying this wasn’t going to happen, she stepped toward me. Her hand moved along my thigh, so close. “Whatever this is, it’s not the same.”

  “I agree.”

  My hands found her waist, moved around to her back, and pulled her close. “Do you not want it?”

  “This place, it’s not where we were, before,” she said, pausing to bite her lip and smile at the pleasure of the tease. “As we’re different here, so is the flow of energy, the… magic?”

  “What happened to you?” I asked, hand going to her small horns, eyes darting over to her cute little demon wings.

  She shook her head. “A story for another time.”

  Maybe it was heaven, I thought, pressing my lips to hers, so many memories flooding back to me. But no, it wasn’t heaven and I wasn’t dead.

  We had a journey ahead of us. More fighting, and plenty more sensual fun, I imagined. But in that moment, I was as close to heaven as I thought I would ever need to get.

  “Come,” she said, guiding me, glancing back at my nudity, then noticing my two friends. “Bring them, too. I have to show you something.”

  I’d expected her to ask about them, to maybe balk at their presence, but it was as if she was used to this. Like she knew exactly what to expect. When we reached the side of the hill, I understood.

  At the base of the decline, some practicing magic, others sharpening blades, a small army was preparing for an attack. There were hybrid angel-demons like her, fauns, men and women with pointed ears, others with animal ears and tails. A few even seemed to float around like wisps in the wind. Watching closer, I noticed a tall man in green robes with a long beard pause to look our way, and I had the distinct inclination that he was from our world.

  “What is this?” Varena asked.

  “Our army,” Katie said. “I found them here, found a place among them. We mean to block the portal, set up defenses on the other side of it. Create a world here unlike any other. Together, all of us… we can be part of it.”

  I turned to Varena and Teln, about to ask i
f they were staying. But as we’d discussed, there was no need to ask. We were connected now, and one look made that clear.

  Together, the four of us were in for an adventure.

  THE END

  Author Ramblings

  Holy hell, what have I just done? Hahaha. I wrote something that I was passionate about, that I didn’t know whether it would make sense or not, but that I knew I had to write regardless. Did it work for you? Make you wonder what the hell is wrong with my head?

  Don’t worry, we might not have any idea who or what Katie is right now, but we’ll get into her more (in more ways than one!) in the next book. And learn more about Teln, and of course Varena. I think we have plenty to go on, and really wanted to take you to this point and stop it, because…

  …we’re setting up a new shared world! That’s the point of this anyway, and I’ve already spoken with some amazing authors who are interested. I didn’t want to take you too far into it in this first book, rather set things up for your curiosity to be piqued. I hope that worked, and I hope you want to read more.

  Other books might have crossover, or they might be in completely different parts of the Rift Plains, other worlds that are branched off from the Rift Plains, or maybe later in the timeline back on Earth. It’s going to be a fun, wild ride, I hope—so congrats on hopping on! Stay tuned.

  As always, I love to hear from you. What excited you most about this book? What are you looking forward to seeing in this universe? What authors do you think should join us to develop it? All of that and more! Join us in the Harem Gamelit Facebook group to discuss these and our other stories.

  Stay tuned for four short stories in the world. I’m going to do something fun with them, and hope you participate by reading. Basically, I want to launch all four at once, and then will do a sort of bracket system—whichever two books do the best (sales, reviews, etc), those two characters live on. The other two? Killed off! It’ll be an experiment, something sort of meta/fun… and sad. But fun sad. Coming soon!